Tag Archives: ArcGIS 10.1

In our recent giveaway, which ran from June 24 through July 7, the four individuals below each won a technical certification exam voucher valued at USD $225.

Antonio Marques of Portugal

Cliff Parker of Virginia, USA

Meg Southee of Ontario, Canada

Paige Brochu of Vermont, USA

Congratulations, winners! And best wishes as you start preparing for your exams. To all those who did not win a voucher, you will have another opportunity when our next giveaway opens in October. Thanks for entering. Continue reading →

ArcGIS 10.x features user-friendly tricks for shortcutting some of the clicks involved with typical geoprocessing tasks. Of course, if you know how to write scripts using the ArcPy site package (or have the time and inclination to learn Python scripting), you’ll find the integration of Python into ArcMap a powerful way to automate geoprocessing workflows (and save yourself and your colleagues a lot of time).

But not everyone is a scripter nor aspires to be. For the non-scripters among you, below are my favorite—simple—timesavers that are built into the default interface at version 10. Continue reading →

ArcGIS for Desktop includes many productivity features to help you get your GIS work done faster. Here are some tips you can try out in ArcMap right away. The 10 shortcuts below can shave milliseconds off common tasks, and hey, milliseconds count when you’re trying to get stuff done. You just may be able to get to lunch five minutes earlier and beat the crowd. That alone is going to save you at least 10 minutes, more if you’re going to Old Ebbitt.

One of the most common questions GIS professionals ask us about Esri technical certification is, “What resources are available to help me prepare for the exam? ” With that in mind, we’re excited to announce a brand-new resource.

Authored by veteran Esri instructor and certified ArcGIS Desktop Professional Miriam Schmidts, the study guide covers concepts and skills measured by the exam and includes step-by-step exercises to practice and reinforce ArcGIS skills.

Miriam, whose work life was consumed for many months by this project, calls the study guide a “comprehensive review of the entire range of GIS skills measured in the exam” and gives this advice: “Study the chapters in sequence or pick and choose the ones you want to concentrate on. Hands-on exercises help you remember the tools and workflows needed for the test. This book will be your best friend!”

The study guide includes access to 180-day ArcGIS for Desktop trial software and an exercise data DVD.

More Sample Question Web Courses Coming

We published free sample question web courses for the ArcGIS Desktop Associate and Professional certifications about a year and a half ago, and they are hugely popular—so popular, in fact, that we’re developing more. Over the next month, we’ll be releasing sample question web courses to help candidates prepare for these version 10.1 exams:

We’ve said before that the process to create a certification exam is rigorous and time-consuming. In fact, we get a lot of questions about how exam questions are developed. Who writes them? Who validates them? Why does it take so long?

To answer these questions, here’s a high-level overview of our exam development process. Like many IT certification programs, we use a third-party consultant for test development. For each certification, we hold a series of workshops, one of which is the question development workshop. Continue reading →

Our training catalog includes quite a few courses that cover fundamental GIS and ArcGIS topics. Designed for people with no academic or workplace experience with GIS, historically our introductory courses have been among our most popular. They likely always will be. As more and more organizations adopt GIS, more people require introductory-level training so they can perform the new workflows made possible by the technology. Makes sense.

If you’re someone who has mastered the fundamentals, you may be wondering what courses you should take next. You’ve learned the basics, you want to continue growing your GIS skillset, but you’re not ready to tackle 3D terrain analysis with lidar data. We get the what’s-next question a lot.

Last week, over 2,000 of you tuned in to watch our live training seminar, Layout Design Essentials for ArcGIS 10.1, presented by Esri instructor Colin Childs, whose South African accent never ceases to please. David Watkins, Esri cartography product manager, joined in on the action as co-presenter to answer viewer questions. The seminar recording is now available for free viewing on the Training website.

This seminar is fast-paced and packed with information that spans basics like inserting a legend with attractive patches to more advanced topics such as adding dynamic text. Throughout, Colin shares tips to make your layout work more efficient and your designs more compelling. Continue reading →

Our release plan for version 10.1 of the certification exams is set and execution is well underway. Two exams are publically available, two exams are in beta release, and four others will be going to beta in the coming weeks. Beta exams are open to Esri employees, distributors, and partners only.

The ArcGIS Desktop Associate and Professional exams are publically available now. For those of you interested in obtaining one of the other 10.1 certifications, here’s the current 10.1 exam release schedule. As always, carefully review the Skills Measured section of the certification page to understand the exam scope. Skills Measured information for exams not yet in beta will be available when the beta exams release. Continue reading →

At version 10.1 the changes to ArcGIS for Server are extensive. The same is not true of ArcGIS for Desktop—version 10.1 introduces few significant changes to the desktop environment (but note there are some nice usability improvements, additional data storage capabilities, and more ways to share your work and access ArcGIS Online resources). As a result, the 10.1 exams for both ArcGIS Desktop Associate and ArcGIS Desktop Professional are not significantly different than the 10.0 exams. Your knowledge of new functionality is measured, but overall the changes to most ArcGIS 10.1 for Desktop workflows are minor when compared with ArcGIS 10.1 for Server.

But Here’s the Big News

If you have an ArcGIS Desktop Associate or ArcGIS Desktop Professional 10.0 certification or if you take (and pass) an ArcGIS Desktop 10.0 certification exam, you are eligible to receive the equivalent 10.1 certification. Yes, you read correctly. If you are a current ArcGIS Desktop 10.0 Associate or Professional or if you earn one of the 10.0 Desktop certifications in the future, you may submit a request to receive the 10.1 certification without taking the 10.1 exam. We will be communicating with all current Desktop certification holders in the near future about how to submit this request. Continue reading →

Ever since version 10.0 was released, the popularity of Python for scripting ArcGIS tasks and workflows has skyrocketed due to its integration into ArcGIS and relatively low learning curve. At version 10.1, Python is even more integrated. Case in point: you can create Python add-ins and toolboxes and in ArcMap you can directly enter Python label and MapTip expressions instead of having to load a script file. It’s nice to have these options.

Amidst all the Python love floating around, some have said ModelBuilder is the forgotten hero of the ArcGIS automation world. They contend that ModelBuilder deserves a bigger share of the spotlight that’s shining on Python. I’ve always found GIS professionals to be visual thinkers who embrace scripting, so it makes sense they would use both Python and ModelBuilder to do their ArcGIS work (and many of you likely do).

But if there is a Python vs. ModelBuilder debate, I’ll stay neutral by saying that both are valuable and have their place. When an older child angrily accuses them of favoritism towards the unwanted intruder, wise parents know to respond, “We love your little brother just as much as we love you.” And so it is with ModelBuilder and Python. Continue reading →